Girl, 14, fears
21,000 party guests after Facebook invite blunder

A
teenager from Hertfordshire who mistakenly posted
her address and phone number on Facebook to
publicise a birthday party ended up with 21,000
promised guests.

By Alastair Jamieson

7:30AM BST 20 Sep 2010

Rebecca Javeleau, 14, mistakenly made the details
public when inviting friends to the event,
creating an internet sensation that led to
thousands of RSVPs from strangers.

Her mother, Tracey Livesey, 40, cancelled the
October 7 event, but police have been forced to
step up patrols in the girl's street in Harpenden
amid fears some Facebook users will turn up,
causing chaos.

The girl, a pupil at Sir John Lawes School, had
meant to invite only 15 friends to her 15th
birthday party, but within hours of appearing
online the event escalated out of control as her
mistake was subjected to online ridicule.

At one stage, 21,000 Facebook users had clicked
the RSVP button signalling they would attend the
party, including fake celebrity accounts in the
name of Justin Bieber, Professor Stephen Hawking,
Stevie Wonder, Susan Boyle and Rick Astley.

Miss Livesey said: "Her party is cancelled and she
will be lucky to get a birthday card from me after
this. I said she could have 15 friends along to
the party but my sister-in-law said that 8,000
people had said on Facebook that they were coming.
Related Articles

Germany 'bans Facebook parties' 04 Jul 2011

Family home trashed after Facebook party goes
wrong 22 Feb 2010

"She did not realise that she was creating a
public event and should have done. She is going to
have to change her mobile phone SIM card because
of the number of calls she has been getting about
it.

"Rebecca did not understand the privacy settings
and she has lost her internet as a result of that
- I've taken away her computer so she won't make
that mistake again."

Miss Livesey, who works for social services
dealing with adults with learning difficulties,
also has a younger daughter Kazia, aged 11 years.
She is separated from her children's father, Duane
Javeleau.

The blunder raises fresh concerns about Facebook
amid criticism that its privacy settings are too
complicated, although the website said its 'event'
settings were separate and public postings were
"clearly" indicated.

Miss Livesey said: "They should make it obvious
that an event that is created is not just going
out to your friends but everyone else on the site.
When this happened Facebook should have realised
that thousands of people going to a 14-year-old's
party is not right and shut the group down
automatically."

"The police have contacted Facebook but we have
had no contact from them, which is a bit
disappointing. There should be guidelines and the
privacy settings should be changed."

"I have been concerned about people showing up
anyway. Even if one per cent arrive it is going to
be chaos."

Although the posting was removed, other groups
were established inviting people along to a
pre-party, after-party, clear-up party and
‘hang-over’ party and her photograph also was
circulated online.

There are fears thousands could still turn up in
the town, which has a population of 30,000.

Sergeant Lewis Ducket of Hertfordshire Police
said: “We are aware of this and have been assured
that the event is no longer taking place.

"I would urge people who may be planning to come
to Harpenden for the party to make other plans. We
will have officers on patrol in the area on
October 7 to provide a reassuring presence and who
will be able to deal with any issues, should they
arise.”

In February, a family's home was "trashed" after
their teenage daughter advertised a party on
Facebook, which was gatecrashed by dozens of
adults.

Rachel Ross, 15, "advertised" a small party for
friends on Facebook but more than 50 people
arrived and caused havoc at the home in
Merseyside.

Furniture was smashed, drunk revellers urinated on
children's beds and some ceremonial swords used
for decoration were ripped down and embedded in a
wall. The damage was estimated at around £15,000.

In 2008, an Australian teenager who hosted a party
attended by 500 guests was arrested by police who
were alerted by furious neighbours in a suburb of
Melbourne.

Corey Delaney, 16, decided to throw a party while
his parents were on holiday and posted an
invitation on his MySpace page.

A spokesman for Facebook said the settings for
'events' on the site were separate from the issue
of profile privacy settings.

The spokesman said: "When someone creates an event
on Facebook it clearly says 'anyone can view and
rsvp (public event)'. If you leave this checked
then it is a public event so anyone can view the
content and respond.

"If users do see content on Facebook that they
feel is inappropriate or unsuitable We have clear
reporting links on every page, including event
pages, for users to flag it. We also provide
people with the tools to manage their own content
so with events for example, there are clear tools
to allow you to control who can see and respond to
the event.

"Helping children to use the internet safely must
be a partnership between service providers,
parents and teachers. We have a lot of resources
on our Safety Centre including separate sections
for teenagers and parents, to help people use
Facebook responsibly and we encourage people to
use these.

"Facebook also works with law enforcement where
appropriate, and has set up a 24-hour helpline for
the police to contact us if needed."